James M. “Jim” Welch, a native of Kingsport, Tennessee, Jim Welch served 19 years as the executive director of the Elizabeth R Griffin Research Foundation, a US-based non-profit organization that worked nationally and globally fostering global health security. Upon his retirement in 2018, the Foundation was transitioned to becoming the Elizabeth R Griffin Program at the Center of Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical School.

Jim was the originating chair of the US steering group of the Global Health Security Agenda Consortium (GHSAC) and was the first NGO member of the Global Health Security Agenda Steering Group. Among his professional activities, he has been a member of the OIE Consultation Group on Sustainable Biosafety and Biosecurity, the advisory board of the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program at the US National Institutes of Health, the global councils of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA), ABSA International, and the Law Enforcement and Veterinary International Conference at INTERPOL.

He was the 2011 recipient of the John H Richardson Award of ABSA International and is an honorary member of the Association of Primate Veterinarians and the International Veterinary Biosafety Working Group. He was named a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow in 2022 and is a former president of the Kingsport, Tennessee Board of Education. He has been a key speaker, instructor, moderator and panelist at professional and governmental conferences, seminars, leadership programs, universities and for private companies around the world.

Ms. Sacha Wallace-Sankarsingh, MSc, MPH (International Public Health), is an international health security laboratory consultant working with public health institutions to address issues of biosafety and biosecurity in the Caribbean. A national of Guyana, Ms. Wallace-Sankarsingh has over 15 years of experience working with medical and public health laboratories at national and regional levels in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Her initial training was in Immunology of Infectious Diseases; however, Sacha has spent most of her career implementing laboratory quality systems following applicable international standards and promoting biosafety and biosecurity best practices. Sacha is best known for her contributions as the Biorisk Manager of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), located in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago. In this role, she managed the biosafety and biosecurity program in the CARPHA Medical Microbiology Laboratory (CMML) Biosafety Level 2 and 3 laboratories, initiated the regional network of National Focal Points, Biosafety and Biosecurity and in recent years held a guiding role as the Caribbean Public Health Laboratory Network (CariPHLN) Manager.

Sacha focuses much of her work on the small island developing states of the Caribbean, while at the international level, Ms. Wallace-Sankarsingh has been an advocate for strengthening national biosafety systems as a pillar of health security: as the 2020 – 2021 Chair of the Global Health Security Agenda’s Action Package Prevent 3 (APP3) on Biosafety and Biosecurity; Board member of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA) and involved in various initiatives including the Global Partnership’s Signature Initiative with the Africa CDC; NTI-Bio’s Global Biosecurity Dialogue; Chatham House’s Sustainable Laboratories Initiative and the new WHO Technical Advisory Group on Biosafety (WHO TAG-B).

Dr. Halima Benbouza received her doctorate in agronomic sciences and biological engineering from Agro Bio Tech Gembloux, Belgium studying plant breeding and Genetics and was offered a postdoctoral position to work with the ARS-US-DA. From 2010-2016, she served as Founder and C&O Director of the National Biotechnology Research Center (CRBt). She was President of the Intersectoral Commission of Health and Life Sciences. Pr. Benbouza is a past member the Sectorial Permanent Board of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

In 2014, she was honored by the US Embassy, Algiers, as one of the “Women in Science Hall of Fame”, and was chosen as one of the 6 best African Women Scientists by the "Next Einstein Forum”. She was appointed representative of Algeria to UNESCO IGCB (2015-2019). In 2017, she served on the Committee on Regional Workshops on Science and Technology Issues for the Biological Weapons Convention, convened by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Pr. Benbouza serves as member of the Executive Committee, Pan African Congress of Ethics and Bioethics (COPAB) since 2015.

In 2020 , she was selected to be a member of the national commission of ethics and deontology at the Ministry of Higher Education and National Research.

Pr. Benbouza consults for a number of international organizations on biosafety and biosecurity education and serves as research reviewer on various international scientific panels. Currently, she is Director at the National Council of Scientific Research and Technologies.

Dr. Djibril SANGARE is a PhD holder in Medical Entomology and parasitology (University Of Mali, Bamako Mali). He also is a PhD holder in Molecular entomology (University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and USA) and is working at the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC) in Bamako, Mali as senior scientist researcher. He was the head of the malaria Vector bioinformatics, and currently leading Vector Immunity and molecular entomology Units. As lecturer he is associate Professor teaching Cell and molecular Biology at the Faculty of Medicine and directly involved in the training of students for their thesis/dissertations in medical Entomology/parasitology.

Actually, I am the president of the Malian Association for Biosafety and Biosecurity which primary mission include Training in Biosafety and Biosecurity of life scientists working on Public Health, Animal Health, agriculture; Diagnosis, Research, and Education: -Involving investigation on Biosafety and Biosecurity issues in different laboratories Biosafety and Biosecurity levels in Mali. -Development of tools, guidelines and regulation to inform and educate laboratories’ staff, health services agents & users on Biorisk.

Dr. Zalini binti Yunus is the Deputy Director General of the Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence (STRIDE), Ministry of Defence Malaysia. Dr. Zalini also served as the National Contact Point for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). She has continuously work with national stakeholders in strengthening national measures to fulfil Malaysia’s obligations to the BTWC especially in capacity building programs in biosecurity, biorisk management and inter-sectoral coordination in deliberate bio-incidents’ response and joint investigations.

In addition, she has served as a member of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Roster of Experts in Biosafety, Biosecurity and Biorisk Management. At the national level, she has served as the Chair of the Technical Committee for Drafting of Malaysia’s Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) Bill and Regulations, Chair of the Policy Development Committee for the National Policy on BTWC Implementation and the lead editor for Malaysia's Biological Incident Emergency Response and investigation Guide. She is currently the Chair of STRIDE’s R&D Roadmap Development Committee and the Chair of STRIDE and Malaysian Armed Forces Engagement Program on Defence S&T Expertise and Capabilities.

She graduated with a degree in Microbiology from National University of Malaysia, obtained her Master of Science in Immunology and Allergy from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, and received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), United Kingdom.

Geoffrey Otim is a seasoned molecular biologist with extensive experiences and interests in synthetic biology and biosecurity. With strong passion for these fields, he honed his skills through a two (2) times Biosecurity fellowship program sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

As a leading voice in the synthetic biology and biosecurity communities in Africa, Geoffrey has founded the first iGEM team from East Africa, organized the first international synthetic biology and biosecurity conference in Africa, and led the first stakeholders-focused pandemic preparedness and response initiative in Africa (SynBio Africa Global Catastrophic Biological Risks Initiative). He has received many awards, fellowships, and invitations to speak at international conferences. His current areas of research interest focuses on the discovery of cryptic microbial secondary metabolites from biodiversity through synthetic biology, and the utilization of the available biomass streams in the production of useful energy products such as ethanol, butanol, and methane.

Geoffrey studied an MSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Makerere University, a BSc in Medical Laboratory Science from Mbarara University, an Advanced Diploma in Health Management and Leadership from the Uganda Institute of Allied Health and Management Sciences, and a master's degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the University of Catalunya/UNITAR. He also did professional development advanced short courses in synthetic biology from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and science policy & Advocacy for STEM scientists from University of California, Irvine.

With his diverse background, cutting-edge research, and passion for making a difference, Geoffrey is a valuable asset for any organization in the fields of synthetic biology, biosafety and biosecurity.

Irma. R. Makalinao, MD. Professor and Graduate Program Adviser. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. College of Medicine. University of the Philippines Manila.